PM Modi to inaugurate much-awaited NSE-SGX Gift Connect on Friday

After being deferred by over a fortnight, the National Stock Exchange International Financial Service Centre (IFSC) SGX Connect is set to be launched on Friday by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

With this, the NSE and Singapore Exchange (SGX) are set to bring SGX Nifty trading at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City). The inauguration, which was supposed to happen on July 15, was postponed due to flood situation in Gujarat.

The NSE IFSC-SGX Connect, which has been in the works for over four years, will route trading in Nifty derivatives contracts that take place in Singapore to India through the Gift City IFSC. Both the Nifty and the Bank Nifty contracts are very popular on the Singapore bourse and account for 16 per cent of the derivatives contracts traded at SGX. The move is part of steps taken by Indian bourses towards curbing the exports of domestic capital markets.

Along with NSE IFSC-SGX Connect, Modi is also set to inaugurate the headquarters of International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) and the India International Bullion Exchange (IIBX) at GIFT City.

As part of his two-day visit to the state, Modi earlier inaugurated Sabar Dairy's Rs 125-crore Tetra pack skimmed milk plant and Rs 300-crore skimmed milk powder, apart from laying foundation stone for a Rs 600-crore cheese manufacturing plant at Himmatnagar on Thursday.

GIFT City recently signed a letter of intent (LoI) with the University of Wollongong (UOW) for establishing a location for teaching, research and industry engagement. With this, UOW became the first Australian university with a teaching base in India. Initially, UOW will focus on finance, business and STEM undergraduate programs which it plans to commence in September 2023.

Earlier this year, the Government of India had issued a gazette notification wherein it allowed courses offered in financial management, fintech, science, technology, engineering and mathematics by foreign universities or foreign institutions in the IFSC at GIFT City to be treated as financial service.